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Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Rapid City, SD
Issued by NWS Rapid City, SD
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151 FXUS63 KUNR 040503 AFDUNR Area Forecast Discussion For Western SD and Northeastern WY National Weather Service Rapid City SD 1103 PM MDT Wed Jul 3 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... -Lingering thunderstorms through the evening -Cool and showery Independence day -Possible thunderstorms again on Saturday -Hot/dry pattern develops next week && .DISCUSSION...(This Evening Through Wednesday) Issued at 116 PM MDT Wed Jul 3 2024 Current surface analysis shows a weak s/w pushing into western NE...resulting in mid-morning convection across parts of western NE and southwestern SD. Additionally...a much stronger s/w and associated 500hpa trough is now dropping into northwest WY with associated convection in central MT. At the sfc...there is a lee trough from central MT into southeast WY/NC CO. For the rest of the afternoon and into the overnight hours...models are still pretty bullish on two distinct areas of convection developing. An area across southwest and southcentral SD associated with the NE shortwave sliding through...and on the nose of the best low level moisture found in NE. Although not easily defined...there still appears to be a boundary draped across the NE/SD border...with 60s dwpts south with southerly winds...and 50 dwpts north with easterly winds. Latest ensembles cont to show ample amounts of 0-6km bulk shear (45-60kts) through 22-23z, SBCAPE values AOA 1K J/Kg through the afternoon and CIN amounts becoming near zero. Of interest...HRRR and NAM show 2 distinct 700hpa areas of theta-e forcing during the afternoon. One across the southcentral along the pesky E/W boundary...and another narrow area setting up along the Black Hills ahead of the main s/w and associated trof before they move through. Current thinking is that there will be 2 separate areas of convection that develop with possibly 2 modes. One coming out of MT/WY that will start off as distinct supercells...developing into a strong line as it moves east. The other across the southcentral that will be more distinct as well. Another thing of interest is looking at ensemble hodographs...there are a couple for sites in the northern hills (Spearfish, Sturgis areas)...that are more curved in nature for a couple of hours this afternoon before becoming more straight in nature. Once into the overnight hours, subsidence behind the exiting wave will aid in bringing everything to an end. Some low level moisture indicators in the models show that low clouds may be an issue across our western counties. Independence Day will looks to be rather cool and unsettled as cyclic flow remains over the region. The day may start off partly cloudy...but with cool temps aloft and enough instability remaining...still envision quite a bit of cloud cover/sprinkles/showers/thunderstorms developing during the afternoon. With this being mostly diurnally driven...envision it drying out toward late afternoon/early evening. Clouds/pcpn will most likely keep many areas at or below guidance values. Northwest flow remains through the weekend. Noticed that there are some height falls during the day Saturday as an ill-defined wave pushes through in the NW flow. Moisture remains pretty scant, but the mention of thunder is warranted. Otherwise things still look on track for western CONUS ridge to start building early next week with associated height rises over the region. Confidence is building that we will begin to see temperatures warm to above to well above normal by weeks end. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS Through 06Z Thursday Night) Issued At 1101 PM MDT Wed Jul 3 2024 Showers and storms will dissipate in the overnight hours but may cause intermittent MVFR/IFR conditions. Scattered showers/storms will redevelop Thursday afternoon. Northwesterly winds will become breezy Thursday morning, around 15 to 20 kts with gusts up to 30 kts. && .UNR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SD...None. WY...None. && $$ DISCUSSION/KEY MESSAGES...Hintz AVIATION...Dye